By leah jones
The company is currently in discussions with lenders and bondholders to restructure its finances and manage its substantial debt, which includes over $1.4 billion in loans and bonds that are due in 2028 and 2029.
Despite none of these developments being confirmed by WW International, the report of its planned bankruptcy by WSJ resulted in the weight management company’s stocks plummeting over 59% to 18 cents.
Many factors have contributed to WeightWatchers declining for the past several years. It was founded in 1963 by Jean Nidetch as a community-based weight loss support group.
The company has long kept that similar premise, promoting weight loss through smart eating using a points system, healthy lifestyle changes and support group meetings.
A lack of interest in the company by younger generations like Gen Z is believed to be a contributing factor. Another is the increased competition from weight-loss drugs.
GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy have become a widely popular form of weight loss. DailyMail.com reported that Ozempic-maker Novo Nordisk is valued at $2.6 trillion.
WW tried to rebrand by shifting to digital services and acquiring WW Clinic (formerly Sequence) which offers prescriptions to weight-loss medications.
However, this shift has failed to yield results with WW’s market value standing at $33.3 million as of Apr. 9, though it once peaked at $6.7 billion.
WW’s shares took another huge hit back in May of 2024 when nearly ten-year-long board member and shareholder Oprah Winfrey announced she was stepping down.
Though Winfrey long championed WW's program, she admitted to starting weight-loss drugs "for maintenance." Her decision to leave WW was due to not wanting any conflicts of interest with her weight-loss drug special.